Hayes Lake State Park

Wannaska Travel Blog

I drove to Hayes Lake State Park, south of Roseau.This park was similar to other parks in northwestern Minnesota.The entire area is a former lake plain so the land is flat, farmed and has few trees and lakes.The lake here is formed from damming the Roseau River.The park has camping, boat rentals, a swimming beach, and hiking trails.I didn’t have much time here, knowing how long of a drive I have yet to the next park.I just did the geocaching and left.The beach was sandy and looked nice, and the hiking trails looked nice, but I just didn’t have much time here.I was impressed with the old pump well.These used to be all over Wisconsin when I was growing up, mostly in rest areas.I remember how much fun I had as a kid pumping the handle to make the water come out.Then stopping to drink quickly before it lost its pressure and then pumping again.And then jumping out of the way as the water drained at my feet.You don’t see these around much any more and it was a bit of nostalgia for me.

Hayes Lake State Park was on the western edge of Red Lake and the next park was on the opposite site of the lake.There was no easy way to get there, so I had to drive all the way back up north and around and back south.